Sermon 19 Pentecost Year B September 30 2024
For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves. Amen.
Recently, someone shared a story with me about a Father and daughter and their last moments at an airport. Saying goodbye they hugged and the father said, ‘I love you, and I wish you enough..’
The daughter replied, ‘Dad, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Dad.’
They kissed and the daughter left. The Father walked over to the window and started to cry. Another man saw him and didn’t want to interrupt, but the father asked, ‘Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever? ‘The other man replied ‘Yes, I have,’ ‘Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?’.
‘I am old, and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is – the next trip back will be for my funeral.’
‘When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, ‘I wish you enough.’ May I ask what that means?’
He began to smile. “It was something that’s been passed down in my family for generations.” He paused trying to remember it in detail. ‘When we said, ‘I wish you enough,’ we wanted the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them.’ Then he recited the following from memory.
I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.
I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger…
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.
For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves. Amen.
It’s so easy to focus only on things that are going wrong. I find my interior voice whining and complaining when conflicts with the daily tasks of balancing family, church and personal care compete in for my time and attention…rather than be in a constant grateful for my children and the richness of my life. I, like many of us, from time to time find it easier to dwell on what’s going wrong than with what’s going right. Focusing on the negative simply brings me down and doesn’t build up my spirit. It keeps me in the place that affects my overall life.
As the gospel reminds us, we are to be salt for the world…we are to bring flavor to life, to be bearers of good news and joy. This is what makes faith life different from our worldly life.
I’ve read studies that show prayer actually improves brain function and wellness. However, the kinds of prayer most of us think of are prayers of petition asking God to do something for us or someone we love. But the prayer researches show makes a difference is the primary prayer that the church offers to us…prayers of praise and thanksgiving. Prayers of gratitude for actually transform us, physically, mentally and spiritually.
A regular expression of gratitude not only results in increased happiness, but also in fewer illness symptoms, a better feeling about our lives and more optimism about the future. Robert Emmons, a leader in the field of research in this area reports, “…when people report feeling grateful, thankful and appreciative, they also feel more loving, forgiving, joyful and enthusiastic….We have discovered that a person who experiences gratitude is able to cope more effectively with everyday stress, may show increased resilience in the face of trauma-induced stress, and may recover more quickly from illness and benefit from greater physical health….experiencing gratitude leads to increased feelings of connectedness, improved relationships and even altruism….Happiness is facilitated when we enjoy what we have been given, when we “want what we have”.
A priest friend of mine who has since retired had a habit of focusing on what’s wrong…not enough pledges for his church…not enough time to do his ministry…fear of what the future might bring. However, one summer he took on a new practice that transformed his outlook on life.
Each day he wrote three things he’s grateful for and given thanks to God for what he has. He says that he was learning how to love what he has, not what he doesn’t have or thinks he wants.
Shortly before he retired, his beloved dog developed a terrible limp and could barely walk. Taking the dog to the vet, he discovered the dog has bone cancer. There was the possibility of operation to provide comfort but not cure. So his response even surprised him. He told the vet that he rescued this dog nearly 6 years prior and he was grateful for the opportunity to have those blessed years with his best friend. He said 95% of the days the dog had since being rescued were wonderful loving days and now he needed to think of the dog.
I can tell you that this is not a normal response for him…he’s what I call a glass half-empty guy. When he shared the story of his dog it was a story of thankfulness…a real change from his usual response. This doesn’t mean that he isn’t sad or feels his loss. It simply means by choosing a prayer of gratitude he actually was transformed inside.
In our weekly book group we’re reading The Book of Joy, which is a book based on a dialogue between Archbishop Desmond Tutu and His Holiness the Dali Lama. This week we discussed the chapter Nothing Beautiful Comes Without Suffering. In short, there is something at the root of joy that is linked to suffering and loss. As Jesus said, For everyone will be salted with fire. We march through the fires and pains of life. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves. Amen.
They are not talking about being happy, but about pain and loss has something within it a redemptive and can lead us to a deeper sense of Joy. And here is where our gospel today comes into focus. From the Archbishop’s perspective he links suffering as an extension of Christ’s self emptying through suffering. The Dali Lama sees mindfulness and mind training as a way to accept and find joy through the mind.
Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves.
With this in mind I’ve ordered little journal for each of youMy hope is that through the month of October and November you will use these journals to simply record all that you are grateful for in your life. Write down one thing a day or every couple of days for which you are grateful. Give praise and thanks to God for what you have been given. Our God is a God of abundance, not scarcity. While the world focuses on scarcity, God’s kingdom is about the celebration of radical abundance. This is simply and invitation to stop and take stock of those abundant gifts we are freely given by a God who loves you outrageously. For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves. Amen.